The sorting of James Potter
by Betty Bent
Summary: This is the story of James Potter's the first sorting, oneshot.


**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, just the plot. **

James was pretending to be confident. He had always looked confident, he wasn't going to stop now. He stood in the entrance hall shivering, along with all the other first years. He's met a guy on the train. His name was Sirius. He's been really nice, he was really funny aswell, the only bummer was that he'd said he was going to be in Slytherin. James wished Sirius would be in Gryffindor, just so he could have a friend. He didn't know why he was worrying though, he'd never had any trouble finding friends before. Ever.

He'd already made an enemy. Not so much an enemy as a person who looked fun to annoy. James definately didn't consider himself as a mean person, but he did like to cause a stir every now and then. _Snivellus, _Ha! He really cracked himself up sometimes. There was a girl with him. His friends probably would have called her hot, but he wasn't into girls himself. Girls were annoying, and no fun. Plus, if you did hang out with them, everybody teased you. No, it was best to stay away from girls. Besides, he suspected his friends were only into girls to try and be cool.

"First years, please follow me into the Great Hall," said a teacher whom James did not know the name of.

He thought he'd known what to expect, but was imediately proven wrong when he stepped into the Great Hall. He lived in a massive house himself, he liked to pride himself on that fact, but that was nothing compared to this. This was insane! How could a room possibly have no roof? He walked slowly, along with the other flabbergasted first years, until they reached the stool at the front.

They stood there, waiting for something to happen, waiting for the hat to start talking, (James' parents had told him all about how it worked) when a tear near the brim opened and it sang. Well, it was more of a chant. It talked about how Gryffindors were brave, Slytherins were determined, Ravenclaws were smart and Hufflepuffs were either loyal or miscellaneous. That much he had already picked up from his parents. The other stuff the hat said James couldn't understand.

"Anderson, Katie," called the teacher.

Katie look like she was going to die. she had the kind of look on her face that clearly said, I knew this was going to happen but it's a shock anyway. She trembled her way up to the front, almost tripping on one of the stairs. Her face bright red as she sat on the stool. The hat had barely touched her head when it yelled, "Hufflepuff!"

The table in the middle errupted with applause. The girl seemed relieved that she hadn't died, so went over and sat at the seat closest to the front.

As newly sorted Joeseph Axel who now belonged to the house of Ravenclaw sat down, Sirius Black was called. He strode straight to the three-legged stool and put the hat on.

"Gryffindor!" it shouted almost instantly. James felt excited, now he'd have a friend, then he had a thought. If Sirius' whole family had been in Slytherin and he'd been placed in Gryffindor, did that mean it was possible for James to be sorted into Slytherin?

Emily Diggins was sorted into Gryffindor, Tom Catal was placed into Slytherin and both Gabby Briggs and Henry Dugole were sorted in to Ravenclaw. That's when the girl from the train was called up.

"Evans, Lily," called the teacher.

The girl walked slowly and carefully up to the stool. After a moments hesitation the hat called, "Gryffindor!"

The sorting went on in the same manner until there was a plentyful supply of students in each house. Almost half the people were sorted now.

"Lupin, Remus." The boy walked up and placed the hat on his head. It seemed like ages until the hat called, "Gryffindor!"

Mary McDonald was placed in Gryffindor, a few Slytherins were sorted aswell. A mousy looking boy named Peter Pettigrew was considered for almost a full minute before being sorted into Gryffindor.

"Potter, James."

This was it, the moment of truth.

James stepped slowly and carefully, concentrating on breathing in and out. He lifted the Hat, and sat on the stool.

_Well well well, another Potter, well it's obvious where you've got to go..._

_"_Gryffindor!" yelled the hat.

James felt relief rush through him, relaxing every muscle in his body, and he went and sat next to Sirius, who was sitting next to the girl from the train.

"Hey," he grinned to Sirius, "Looks like you were the exception to your family rule after all."

"Yeah," he grinned back.

James didn't concentrate for the rest of the sorting. He was too busy asking the prefects quesions. He did notice that Snivellus was sorted into Slytherin, and the girl with red hair from the train didn't look too happy about it.

He ended up sharing a dorm with Sirius, and two other boys named Remus and Peter. He went to bed with a full stomach and happy thoughts about the exciting years to come.


End file.
